Dubai passenger traffic nears 6m in August

Dubai, September 24, 2013

Dubai International, the world’s second busiest airport for international passengers, saw its monthly passenger traffic reach 5.9 million in August with a year on year increase of 23.8 per cent compared to 4.8 million in the corresponding month last year.

The soaring traffic at the airport in August made it the busiest month in terms of passenger numbers in Dubai International’s history, according to traffic report issued today by airport operator Dubai Airports.

The surge is the result of a strong growth in almost all markets and the effect of Ramadan and Eid travel which further boosted traffic during the month, stated the report.

With monthly traffic breaching the 5 million passenger mark for nine consecutive months, the year to date passenger number increased by 16.4 per cent to 43.9 million compared to 37.7 million recorded during the first eight months of 2012, it added.

Spurred by the strong growth in markets such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, the AGCC routes topped the list of regions with the largest growth in passenger numbers (over 289,021), Western Europe (over 258,288) – which has been positively affected by the launch of Qantas’ services to Dubai; followed by the traditionally strong market of the Indian subcontinent (over 163,657), and Africa (over 89,533).

The top regions in terms of percentage growth in traffic included Eastern Europe (82 per cent), Australasia (45 per cent), and Asia Pacific (40.4 per cent), said the Dubai Airports in its report.

The aircraft movements during August reached 31,198, up 11.5 per cent from 27,986 recorded during the corresponding month in 2012. During the first eight months of the year aircraft movements totalled 242,571, up 7.3 per cent compared to 226,064 during the corresponding period in 2012, it added.

On the freight scenario, Dubai Airports said the year to date cargo volumes increased by 8.1 per cent to reach 1.58 million tonnes compared to 1.46 million during the first eight months of 2012. Monthly cargo volume contracted by 3 per cent in August reaching 184,877 tonnes compared to 190,770 tonnes in August 2012.

Commenting on the consistent growth, CEO Paul Griffiths said, "The results have been very satisfying so far this year with the airport achieving traffic growth rate well over the projected figures. While five million passengers per month has become a standard at Dubai International, it’s worth noting that in August we were barely two Airbus A380s short of hitting the 6 million passenger figure."

"The signs are good for the remainder of the year, the highlight of which will be the launch of passenger operations at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC)," he stated.

"We have signed MoUs with two airlines and are in discussion with a number of other carriers to start services at the new airport while Wizz Air has confirmed it will start operations on October 27 as DWC’s launch customer," he added.-TradeArabia News Service